Police recruits embark on next journey

Friday

Apr 5, 2013 at 6:00 AMApr 5, 2013 at 3:57 PM

Speaking at the Police Department recruit class graduation Thursday, class representative Nicholas Riggieri touched on the process of being broken down before being built up. From getting up early in the morning to enduring grueling physical fitness drills, to class work, constitutional law studies, and written examinations, the recruits went through it all together, and grew close.

By Steven H. Foskett Jr. TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Speaking at the Police Department recruit class graduation Thursday, class representative Nicholas Riggieri touched on the process of being broken down before being built up.

Shortly before he was sworn in as a police officer in the city, Officer Riggieri, quoting Lao Tzu, remembered the first steps of a long journey he took with the 16 other city police recruits and 24 more recruits from other cities and towns in his class.

From getting up early in the morning to enduring grueling physical fitness drills, to class work, constitutional law studies, and written examinations, the recruits went through it all together, and grew close. They helped each other, studied with each other, and were there for each other, whether it was a wedding, a new baby, or the death of a loved one, he said.

“We were becoming a family,” Officer Riggieri said.

Forty-one men and women became police officers after the ceremony, held at Worcester Technical High School. Chief Gary Gemme said the 17 new Worcester officers represented the most diverse class in the department's history, something “the community should be exceptionally proud of.”

Drawing on his 30 years of experience as a police officer, the chief advised the new recruits to focus on four areas in their careers and in their lives: preparedness, fitness, balance and respect.

The new officers should continue to educate themselves, and should commit to staying informed. They will need to balance work with their personal lives, and it's easy to get consumed by the job, the chief said.

“The respect you show, the mutual respect for others, will make you a better police officer and will keep you safe,” he said.

Daniel Zivkovich, executive director of the state Municipal Police Training Committee, told the recruits to “let excellence be your mantra, in your personal life and your professional life.”

“When you become police officers you have lost the right to be unfit,” he said.

In the city, the 17 newest recruits are going on the job as the City Council and City Manager Michael V. O'Brien look to add another recruit class for fiscal 2014 to bolster the city's police ranks. Public safety is the utmost priority in the city, City Councilors William Eddy and Philip Palmieri said in their remarks.

Mr. Eddy joked that the rookie moniker may be short-lived for this class if the council gets its way.

“Your seniority is rising by the moment here,” Mr. Eddy said.

U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, said it was a privilege to attend the graduation. He said there is much talk in Washington, D.C., about homeland security, but for most people it's more like “hometown security.”

“Serving as a police officer is perhaps the highest calling in public service,” he said.

Special mention at the ceremony was made of recruit Timothy Foley, a Marine Corps veteran who received a Purple Heart medal after being injured while serving in Afghanistan in 2010.